Chapter 4

Ben jumped up and slammed his head into the horse feeder with a good loud THUMP!

"Owww!" he said as he stood up, rubbing his head. That is going to leave a mark! Ben thought. When he stood up he stared at the man. He was dressed in a strange green-gray cloak that almost made him look invisible. Much like camouflage. On top of that he had a giant longbow strapped to his back. To make matters even more scary the strange man had his hand on the hilt to a giant saxe knife. A saxe knife was a large knife, almost like a short sword, excellent for combat. Definitely not a merchant.

"Finished staring?" The man said.

Ben couldn't see the man's face from the shadow of the hood that covered his upper face in a mask of darkness. All he could see was a grim bearded chin and a tight mouth.

"What are you doing in my horses stall?" The man demanded in a very threatening voice. Ben realized the man had half drawn his saxe knife.

"What! Oh! I.. I'm sorry. I was running from a guard. It... It's not that I stole anything. It was that I saw a bully and I finally beat him and, and..." Ben let the explanation run off, realizing that he had been babbling.

Finally the man spoke. "Do you even think that is my problem?"

"Uh no sir!" Ben stammered.

"Then get out!" The man said gruffly.

"Ye-Yes sir!" Ben said and ran out as fast as possible.

As Ben ran past the man he heard him say, "probably trying to steal Tug."

"Hey Ty!" Ben yelled as he saw Tyler at the park. Together, they walked through the village.

"Where were you?" He asked. "You missed lunch with me and Jonathan." Jonathan was an old buddy who always loved to hang out with Ben and Tyler. Together they would often cause mischief in the town. They loved to pull plenty of pranks on Caleb. They would distract him and his cronies. Often with food, and when they had took the bait they would dump a bag or box of manure on their heads from a nearby roof or tree.

"I ran into Caleb." Ben replied.

Tyler made a disgusted face. "Old prissypuss tryin' to beat you up again?"

"No, I actually beat him!" Ben said.

Tyler reacted with surprise and a smile. "Bet he deserved it."

"Yeah, but I got caught and I had to run from a guard. I ran into a stall. I thought it was empty but there was a small horse in there." Ben said. "A man came and kicked me out."

Tyler shrugged. "Makes sense. I wouldn't want you in my stall if I had a horse."

"It wasn't that." Ben said. "It was the man, he was dressed up in this weird cloak and he had a big bow."

Tyler gaped at him. "You met a Ranger!?"

Of course! Ben thought. Rangers were elite soldiers in the kingdom. They are remarkably strong and have an uncanny accuracy with longbows. Ben recalled the Ranger's words; "He was probably trying to steal Tug. Not that he could have." He said that because Ranger horses were trained to only let their masters on them.

"Do you know his name?" Tyler asked.

"Yeah, Will. I don't know his last name."

Tyler's mouth dropped down to the ground. There was only one Will in the Ranger Corps. "You met Will Treaty!"